Students will investigate how real viewers emotionally respond to color, shape, and pattern in abstract art, conduct firsthand interviews, and create empathy maps grounded in direct quotes to inform their future Yayoi Kusama–inspired eye designs.

Students will synthesize interview findings about how viewers experience color, pattern, and emotion in abstract art, identify themes across users, and craft a clear, evidence-based How Might We statement that will guide their eye painting prototypes and mural panel designs.

Students will generate a wide range of user-centered design concepts for their Kusama-inspired abstract eye paintings and mural panels, using structured brainstorming and decision tools to move from divergent to convergent thinking grounded in real user evidence.

Students will build and refine a testable prototype of their Kusama-inspired abstract eye mural panel, using rapid low-fidelity sketches and a higher-fidelity painted section to gather user feedback and document iteration decisions before final production.

Students will validate their refined abstract eye mural panels and self-portrait paintings with a new authentic viewer, document final feedback, and present a complete design story—from user interviews to final iteration—during the Eyes on Art exhibition and virtual gallery recording.